Stocks continue slide, follow Euro bourses
Stocks continued their slide yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), following losses in European markets. The session was marked by a continuing drop in turnover, as medium- and small-capitalization stocks failed to attract serious interest. The ASE general index closed at 2,868.78 points, a decline of 29.97 points or 1.03 percent. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips declined 1.29 percent to close at 1,592.92 points, while mid- and small-caps declined 0.40 percent and 0.27 percent respectively. Telecommunications firms were, once again, hit hardest, while real estate and foods and beverages posted significant gains. A few blue chips bucked the trend and posted gains: These were Viohalco (up 2.56 percent to 5.60 euros), Aluminium of Greece (1.82 percent to 14.54 euros), Hellenic Technodomiki (1.08 percent to 3.74 euros) and Hellenic Petroleum (0.50 percent to 8.02 euros). By contrast, most blue chips were hit hard, including OTE (down 2.32 percent to 14.34 euros), CosmOTE (2.18 percent to 14.36 euros) and Alpha Bank (2.17 percent to 25.20 euros). Out of 323 traded stocks, 92 gained, 158 declined and 73 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 112.72 million euros, including 3.5 million in prearranged trades.
